Fri, 3/23 - 9:55 PM

January, 2014

Fun at First Sight

January 28, 2014 |

By Judith Schomp

I was elated when I was cast in “What the F@$#”, because it was going to be my first ensemble piece in Austin. The only thing I knew about this new city, after moving from the improv community in Chicago, was that the Hideout was a theater I should definitely try out. When I got the email that I was in the show, I didn’t know what to expect.

Over the course of our 2 months of rehearsals, I’ve been able to form some of my first friendships in Austin. The amount of playfulness that we have on stage, off stage, at bars, in the Hideout coffee shop, and even over group texts is tremendous. I was worried about moving to yet another improv town and taking forever to be accepted in the community. I was so wrong with my amazing cast, though—it was fun at first sight.

It was refreshing to go to practice every Sunday and learn how to create a strong narrative with people I was just getting to know. Our director, Ruby, was patient, open, and informative toward us every step along the way. One of my favorite things about being in this show is that we have all so seamlessly been able to come together, from a variety of improv backgrounds, and improvise like we’ve been playing together for years.

My favorite vocabulary word in improv is “play”. I love that feeling of stepping on stage, not knowing what’s about to happen, and then completely trust falling into the scene with your castmate. It’s all about having fun with the unknown, and each member of “What the F@$#” is a Fun Master. We play in each scene like it’s only us, and yet by the end of a practice run we’re able to somehow put a whole story together with all these characters and story arcs.

I’m so grateful to be a part of the first Student Mainstage, and I couldn’t have enjoyed myself more up to this point. Even if our shows consist of the worst improv of our lives (what would that even be like?), I’ve gotten to grow as improviser with some pretty amazing people already. In each show, we’re going to have some fun no matter what. It’s safe for me to say, being a part of this show has been “all work and all play.”

Coffee House art by JR Rapier

January 11, 2014 |

Jessica here –

New art is now gracing our walls!

I found JR Rapier when looking at artist for EAST (East Austin Studio Tours). Her beautiful imaginings of natural materials made me think of Georgia O’Keefe. I’m excited to see how her work will look on the walls.

Trust and Love

January 3, 2014 |

By Bridget Brewer

There’s a term some of my cast members and I use to describe what used to happen to me when I was asked to be emotionally vulnerable in a romantic scene. We call it “peg-legging.” Instead of saying yes to the offer of being a romantic lead, I would turn into a pirate with a peg leg. Yes, a literal pirate. My scene partner would say, “Darling, I have always loved you,” and I would reply, “Arrrrghhh, matey, well hoist the sails then, the Kraken is a’comin’ for our earthly bodies!” It was terrible. I knew it was terrible. I tried to stop. The thing is, it’s hard to stop making yourself the goofy, ugly, crazy, unlovable character in scene after scene if that’s how you really see yourself.

Boom. You can thank this show for that epiphany.

“I Love You So Much” is a unique show in my, albeit short, history of performing. More than any other show, this kind of work requires you to examine yourself – your real, undisclosed self – as single, in a long-term relationship, married, divorced, widowed, or in any of the other countless stages of relationships, and to create characters from that place of honesty. This is a wonderful request to make of your improvisers. But flirting, making sexy eye contact, swaggering in spiky lady heels up to the bar and having countless people buy me drinks – I shut down immediately when it comes to that stuff. I’ve always thought I’m better at being the funny, nerdy best friend helping my cooler, hotter friend get laid.

When you’re rehearsing every Wednesday for two months, however, there comes an important moment when you have to decide how much you trust yourself and the people around you. I encountered that moment two years ago with the man who is now my boyfriend, in fact. On a very normal night, I decided I trusted him. In spite of the long history of people who’d broken my heart and trust before him, I trusted this goofy nerd, and I decided I deserved to be able to trust someone. It was a big moment, and it led to what is currently 2 years of the best relationship I’ve ever had in my life.

I know things don’t always turn out as well as my relationship with my boyfriend – oh, how well I know that – but there’s no way to know for sure if things will turn out well unless you stop with the damn peg-legging and give it a real shot.
So that’s what I’m choosing to do with “I Love You So Much.” These Saturday nights represent something different for me. The laughter and emotions I share with you during this show are going to be the real deal, with my entire self behind them. I’m making the same promise I made to my boyfriend, and I’m doing it for myself, my cast mates, and for you: I trust you. Not as a pirate with a peg leg going for the cheap laughs, but as someone deciding, on a very normal night, that I trust each and every one of you with my goofy, lovely, weird, beautiful, real self.

I Love You So Much runs every Saturday at 8pm in January and February. Get tickets here.